>>FROM:@AEGONNER >>TO:@ALL >>RE:ARANEAN LEGENDS | >>TO:@SOME

[northerndragon]

>>TO:@ALL

They have their legends here of the Watcher and the Hunter. What do you know of them?

Has anyone mentioned the King Killer?

--

>>CLOSED TO: PEOPLE WHO ARE IN A LOT OF CONTACT WITH DANY.*

If I fall in the arena, look after STORMBORN. And keep her from retaliating, if you can.

[*This is certainly the group Dany sent her last locked network post out to, but it can also include anyone whose player thinks they'd be included. I tried to make a list and ultimately didn't want to accidentally omit anyone. If there's reason to think either of them would consider your character friendly or a friend, your character got this.

Also, this entire post isn't really on any specific timeline; could be at any point in the last couple of weeks.]

Comments

[northerndragon]

No. To be fair, there are no stories of my gods. No names, no faces, but they watch you, and they don't like lies. They were the gods of the First Men and of the Children of the Forest before them.

There are stories of heroes, and of the last Long Night, but that's different. The Last Hero wasn't a god. From what I know of the stories of Azor Ahai, he wasn't a god either, and the stories aren't the same, except that each of them is said to have defeated the White Walkers in the end.

If there are points in all the stories of the Watcher and the Hunter that are closest to the real version, it might help to hear more versions. The Araneans care about this story somehow, that's one thing I know.

[horsepowered]

I feel that while they may be seen as gods, their actions are closer to that of a mythical hero. If we focus on them through that lens, then it may be simpler to understand things, at least as far as stories go.

It's shockingly obvious how much they care. I might like to get a comparison of the royal version versus a more common version.

[northerndragon]

Do you think there's a difference? It might be that the royal version is passed down to the common people, or it might be that the smallfolk, such as they are here, keep some other story alive. Our old nurse told me of the Last Hero. It wasn't a story that high lords cared about or believed. But history here isn't so long, and there's only been one royal house, and two queens in all.

Still, the White Walkers are real enough — maybe the Hunter or the King Killer was real enough at some time, in some way. Maybe just a man, or maybe something I wouldn't call a man that still counts as one where he came from, the way an Aranean would here.

[horsepowered]

I want to know if there is. It can be a telling detail if there is a change, and it says something about the people who tell the story and what they value if they do. I'll take your example of what your nurse said. It wasn't told by other nobles, correct? The values in that story are probably different from what your nobility values.

I think your interpretation is correct. Or at least it's something we can test out and explore.

[northerndragon]

No, her stories weren't told by others. There was a sense that they were only stories to frighten children. Even for interest, I was more drawn in by stories our maester — our tutor — told us, the ones of Danielle's forebears.

[Now, he wonders, were those people real to him, or was it only that he aspired to heroic deeds? Some people see him as a hero now, but he doesn't feel like a hero, just someone who has scraped and scraped to survive and to help others survive. Heroism for its own sake, for the sake of renown, feels like such a petty thing these days.

A lot about Jhashch feels petty to him, even if its origins weren't. Is this sort of society what things come to if you're not careful?

How different is it really from King's Landing or further-flung places like Braavos or Volantis?]

We can test it, but we don't know enough. We can talk to people. Maybe there are books. If we survive this, there may be books back at BASE, too. The story means something to the enemy — we shouldn't stop thinking about it after we leave this place.

[And he wishes, now, that Sam could be at BASE, spending his days in the library. It would be good to see his friend, and better if he could apply his mind and his ability to find things in books to all of this.]

[northerndragon]

Aye, all those blindfolded statues, I've seen them, and the beast at her feet. This King Killer is another beast, a dragon, so there must be a woman in his story, too.

But what was there before there was life? That's a puzzle. Things that weren't mortal, it seems. Was she destroying other gods?
For the Araneans, she's in their image, but he's not. Why is that? Is it that way everywhere?

PRIVATE
Death should be the end for anyone at any time. Death is still death — it seems like there would be a cruelty to coming back and dying again and again.

It hasn't happened to you yet, has it? There was a man with us at Valmy, a big man with a long braid down his back, stole a horse from some farm. That was her husband, who she was sold to when she was barely a woman grown. He died then, and he died again for COST, and COST couldn't bring him back. I don't think she'll trust that I'll come back until she sees me.

[WE DON'T TALK ABOUT DEAD CLUB.

We just insinuate and deflect.]

[northerndragon]

[He'd say that Sansa will do as her king orders, but she doesn't have one anymore because he bent the knee to some Targaryen woman. Oh well.]

[bloodings]

yeah. they saw a chance to get what they wanted. my father gave his life for the people, but a chance for more power had them following someone who despised the lot of them. they thought my rebellion was for them, when it was only ever for myself.

thats why humans are mere livestock. offer them a piece of meat, and theyll blindly forget about their old master in a heartbeat. thousands died because of me, and i crushed thousands more without care. but even so, i wont go out of my way to kill them. thats the only reason im here at all.

[lonelywar]

The King Killer... I have not heard of this piece of the story. Is it depicted in statues as well?

That was a question I had as well. If the Hunter was once mortal, what sort of mortal was he, if he existed before life itself began? Perhaps it is something to ask the commander or the sergeant, if they have the time to answer.
I am not sure. Perhaps that is what they thought existed before life did?

PRIVATE:
I would agree.
This is a cruel war we fight, in many more ways than one.

I did not meet this man you speak of, though I understand what you mean.
It has not happened to me, though I have been upon death's door more times than I wish. But you are correct. There is no guarantee that COST will be able to revive us, and Daenerys does not seem the one to wait patiently for news for this.

Should what concerns you come to pass, I will lend whatever strength I can toward staying her hand before she can cause too much damage.

[horsepowered]

Hm. Frighten, but were there warnings about where not to go or what not to do in those? I'm...biased in my understanding these things, because I'm a part of them, just as Achilles is, just as Mordred is. We're given the weight of not just our lives, but the meanings that people have added onto us over the years. Those are meanings that endure. In the case of myself and the other Chiron, they've lasted for thousands of years.

Although the other Chiron has also lasted for a few thousand years compared to myself.

[It's the kind of perspective that some days, feels so weird to talk about. Like now. But understanding stories is important, especially when trying to divine the meaning of why some have stuck around in the way that they have.

What additional meanings have been added to the Watcher and Hunter, really?]

Mm. Checking here and books on BASE sound like a good plan to me. I may be so bold as to ask myself for clarification as well.

@BURGERKING, PRIVATE

[dipolar]

You two are needy.

In any case, I'll be sure to stop her should she do anything rash.
Not out of obligation to you, but for the importance of the mission.

Private forever!

[northerndragon]

It's because of the importance of the mission that I'm asking you.

Has she said something that makes her sound like she's in need?

[dipolar]

Yes, she asked me to look after you in Gallipoli.
Now you're asking me to look after her.
I will do what's required of me, where COST and our members are concerned.

[northerndragon]

I'm asking you to keep her from trying to kill anyone she shouldn't. I'm concerned for her safety, too, but I can't say it seems like safety is worth talking about here.

[Is it ever? Recent years have proven that there's small safety at home, that it's more tenuous and illusory than it may seem, that you take it where you can find it and that you may be a fool to expect it to last. Even now, he doesn't expect to restore it; he only hopes to give people a fighting chance at living out their lives.]

How do you think the mission is going?

[widow_of_the_crag]

The East across the sea. My mother's family was called 'Spicer'.

[For all that might mean to him.]

I could use your help. I think it would be better for us to persuade the princess to our side, but she wants numbers, more men. I think with the right strategy, we could sway her away from the Regency.

There has to be a way for her to succeed without risking too many lives.

[dorzalta]

[ BADUM CHHHHH. The plot thickens!! ]

1/2

[pointedlook]

According to the Commander, there's a way to get information about what they favor, what they value. Essentially things to make overtures. Hard to say exactly how useful it will be, but it sounds like it could help with leverage in certain situations.

2/2

[pointedlook]

Somehow I get the feeling she'd pull through. Maybe I'm wrong since you know her better. But she's never struck me as the type to just drop the ball regardless of whatever emotional storm is there.

[northerndragon]

[What it means to him is that they might have had something to do with spices. They have a family name, the way a cook or a smith might not.]

It might be that we can.

Also might be that she'll use us courting her to find out where we're weak. They say she's done that before. How much of this is real knowledge and how much of it is just tale-telling? If the Queen is COST's ally, we know of the Princess what she wants us to know. I don't know how much more we know.

I don't know of people from across the sea named Spicer, but did they come dealing in spices? From one of the cities?

[widow_of_the_crag]

My mother's grandfather was a trader who dealt in saffron and pepper. They came from Essos to Lannisport and their son was ennobled, creating House Spicer. My mother was fortunate to marry into a noble family.

[But it was always a bone of contention to her that it was to a poor nobleman and a crumbling House.]

My mother doesn't speak of her father's family. As far as she is concerned, she is Westerosi.